I have to say, I think I found my new favorite spinning group over on the Ravelry forums: Completely Twisted and Arbitrary Spinning. They’re fun, welcoming, and really anything but arbitrary in their spinning because they’ve inspired me to organize myself and join in with their Spin the Bin 2014 challenge. The idea is that you choose 12 items from your stash that you wish to spin this year, and then you attempt to do it all! If you remove something from your list of 12, you have to add 2 other items to make up for it, so there’s a little bit of incentive to stick to your plans. Just the other day I was dreaming up all the spinning projects I wanted to undertake and lamenting the lack of a spinning queue feature on Ravelry to keep track. This isn’t exactly the same but it’s great motivation to commit to some of the things I’ve been meaning to get around to doing.

There are a few things not pictured because they are still on their way to my house but once they arrive, I’ll have 85 ounces (over 5 pounds!) of fiber to spin this year. That number sounds kind of scary, until I remember that I did spin up 11 ounces in one week for Spinzilla in October, so it should be doable. Here are the details for my 12 bin items.

1) Long Island Livestock Company Alpaca Firestar, 2-ply, 6 oz

I’m halfway done with this spin already, but since I started it after January I’m still counting it. This will be a DK-ish weight 2-ply for my mom when I’m done.

2) BMFA RWC Camel/Merino/Silk in Spring Dreamin’, 2-ply, 5 oz

Similar to the alpaca, this spin has already been started (post-January) and will become a 2-ply yarn. However, this beauty will be for me!

3) Pigeonroof Fibers BFL with Frabjous Fibers BFL Sparkle, 2-ply, 8 oz

My Pigeonroof Fibers BFL hasn’t arrived yet, but I’ll be spinning up the Filigree colorway for this quarter’s CTA spin-along. (It’s so pretty!) I’m thinking that it will look lovely plied with this Frabjous Fibers braid.

4) Loop! Bump in Kermit Coordinate, 2-ply, 5 oz

This is the fiber that I am planning to ply together with the other Loop! bump that I am currently in the middle of spinning. The other bump won’t count for this challenge, but this one will. I think plying the two together will have a neat fractal effect on the color changes.

5) BMFA RWC BFL and Merino/Silk in Sleepy Hollow, possibly 2-ply, 8 oz

I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do with this Rockin’ Whorl Club kit yet. I’ve seen some gorgeous examples of yarn where people spun each base and then plied the two together. I love how the silk stands out like little jewels. I might do the same with mine.

6) BMFA RWC Polwarth in Prism and Winter Solstice, 2-ply, 8 oz

I don’t have a photo of the Winter Solstice yet, but it’s a basic light grey. I have 4 oz of the Prism left and plan to either ply each color with itself and knit a two-color project, or ply the two colors together to create a muted rainbow, like in this lovely example. Still deciding.

7) BMFA Sheep 2 Shoe Kit in Single Cell Dating Pool, 3-ply, 8 oz

I think I’ve finally gotten to spin thinly enough that I should be able to make a decent skein of 3-ply sock yarn, so that will be my goal with this kit.

8) Plymouth Yarn Alpaca carded with Silk, ? ply, 7 oz

I received this baby-soft alpaca for my birthday and have ordered 2 oz of shiny, blue-green silk (that I’m still waiting for) to go with it. I’d like to use the drum carder I’ve rented to blend the alpaca and silk together into fluffy batts. Not sure how I’ll spin it yet, let’s see how the blending goes, first!

9) Two Sisters Stringworks Gotland in Canopy and Rime, possible 2-ply, 8 oz

Again, I’m undecided about how exactly I’ll spin these, I think they’d work great spun separately and knitted together into something stripey, or plied together for a different look. Either way, I want to try out this Gotland fiber sooner than later, so it’s in the bin.

10) BFL x Cormo fiber, ? ply, 8 oz

I have about 16 oz of these lovely, unwashed locks stashed and I think it’s a good goal to aim to wash, flick, and spin up half of them this year. If I do more, great, but I wanted to commit to less than the full amount just in case I hated the process for some reason (which I obviously hope I don’t).

11) BFL x Gotland fiber, ? ply, 8 oz

Similarly, I have a bunch of these BFL x Gotland locks stashed that I’d like to experiment with. For these, I want to dye the locks in a few different colors and try combing and blending the colors into some sort of gradient (I think – don’t hold me to that).

12) West Mountain Farm Llama Down, 2-ply, 5 oz

Finally, last-but-not-least, a little bit of llama down to spin up since I’ve never spun llama before. I’m hoping it spins similarly to the alpaca that I’m enjoying so much right now!

Phew! I’m a bit tired already just looking at all of that fiber but I’m also feeling really excited about all the lovely yarn I’m going to make. There’s nothing I like more than a good plan. I’m sure I’ll spin other things throughout the year but it will be great to have this list to keep me motivated when I feel like I’m lacking inspiration. How do you choose what to spin (or knit, or make) next? Do you find goals to be helpful or a hindrance to your creativity? What’s been inspiring you, lately? Link along or leave a comment below and let us know!